GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Witch Hunt ❯ Chapter four ( Chapter 4 )

Witch Hunt

Chapter four

Ginji sat leaning against the trunk of a big pine, trying to think. He hated everything about this. How could he rescue Ban? It would be much easier if the situation was the opposite. If Ban had to rescue him, he would have thought about something brilliant that immediately would have snapped Ginji out of the spell and let them both out of the house with the Seikon. Ginji sighed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was Ban who should do the thinking.

He remembered what Ban used to say when Ginji complained about how stupid he was, never being able to come up with anything. 'You're not stupid, Ginji. Just stick to what you know with your heart and everything will turn out just fine.' What he knew with his heart. What did he know? Well, first of all his heart told him that he loved Ban-chan and that his partner had to be rescued. That was the most obvious fact. What did he know more? That it was Ginji himself who had to do the rescuing. Ginji sighed again. Was this knowledge really useful? He also knew where Ban was. If they didn't move him! That might be a useful insight. He must get back to the house and keep a watch so that they didn't take Ban out of the house, or if they did, where they went.

Happy to have found something he must do, Ginji rose and started his way back to the house. Fortunately it wasn't as far as he had thought. Deep inside he must have kept his bad sense of direction in mind, and his mind hadn't let him run that far.

It was still too early in the morning to have become any lighter. The first hints of dawn was a couple of hours away, so the only bird awake was the owl hooting just a little bit away; Ginji, for once, didn't hear it. He could think of nothing but Ban. The Motohashis were turning Ban against him. What if that was irreversible? Ginji couldn't care less about the Seikon or the Demuras right now. All he wanted was his Ban-chan back. Ban as his enemy? That thought made him feel so sick he had to stop to get a hold of himself. A tear trickled down his cheek. Of course Ban would come back to normal. Ban-chan would smile at him again and call him a stupid moron. Angrily he swept away the tears, there was no need for such stupid emotions, everything would be fine.

The house lay in front of him. The only windows with light were one to the right on the ground floor and one to the left on the second floor. The one they had used to get inside the house before was closed and dark. Ginji went to the back of the house. It was even darker there because there were no windows with lights coming out on this side. But the moon was still bright enough to make him able to see the stairs down to the door from which he had left the mansion in such a hurry a little while ago. It had been locked from the inside, but he had unlocked it. Would it still be unlocked? Ginji walked down the stairs and felt the doorknob. No, it had been locked again.

He circled the house, cautiously feeling all the windows on the ground floor. All of them were closed and properly hatched. He looked up to the second floor. The windows up there all looked closed too, and besides, he couldn't see any ladder or anything else he could climb on. That wouldn't stop him of course, there was always a way to climb if you wanted too. But before he did any climbing, he tried the main door on a hunch. It wasn't locked!

Ginji stiffened when the door moved as he turned the doorknob. He hadn't expected it to be open. The door opened silently on its hinges, and it was dark inside. Ginji tried to listen. He thought he could hear faint voices coming from the right. Probably from the room where he had seen light from a window. Could Ban be there? He followed the sound of the voices until he stood outside a door standing a little ajar. From inside the room he could hear Toriyoshi's voice. It sounded monotonous, like she was reading something. Ginji leaned closer to the door. Yes, she was reading yesterday's newspaper! Motohashi was also in that room, sometimes commenting something she just had read. They seemed utterly relaxed. Ginji just couldn't get it. Why didn't they worry about him? Didn't they care if he was coming back or not? Or did they just not think of him as a threat? It could be they had set a trap for him, of course. Ginji shrugged mentally. Be that as it may, he still had to rescue Ban-chan. Somehow.

Obviously Ban wasn't in this room at least. Ginji stood silent outside the door a little longer to hear if they should mention Ban. They didn't, all they did was reading and commenting the articles in the newspaper.

Maybe Ban was still in the cellar? Or maybe in the room upstairs where he had seen the light? Or maybe in another room, or in another house? Ginji felt frustrated; where would he start looking? He made a new effort to think. The cellar, he should start with the cellar. It had looked like that was the room Ban had been given, he was probably still there.

This time Ginji knew the way to the cellar and in spite of the darkness in the house and the fact that he had to move quietly, he managed to find the stairs down without any trouble at all. Not a sound was heard as he sneaked his way to the room where Ban had been sitting. He opened the door. It was dark inside but Ginji lit the lamp and found the room empty. So where was Ban now? Ginji decided to try for the room on the second floor with the lit lamps.

Still no one had disturbed his search. There was not a guard around; no one at all. It seemed like they all had gone to bed after he had fled from the building. Except Toriyoshi and Motohashi sitting with a newspaper! Ginji was very tense. It must be a trap. Sometime soon they would attack and he had to be prepared when they did. Suddenly he remembered he still had the Seikon in his pocket. That was really stupid. Of course he should have hidden it in the forest before he came back here. Ginji could have kicked himself. Ban-chan would have been so angry had he known. Well, all he could do now was to make sure he wasn't going to get caught. If they didn't catch him, they wouldn't get the Seikon. That much he could figure out after all.

Still without any disturbance from anyone, he managed to reach the second floor. It was quiet here. On silent feet he walked to the left, seen from the outside of the house. Somewhere here must be the room with the lit lamp. Ginji listened; not a sound was heard. He started to look at the keyholes. He was right. From one of them was a small light showing a lamp was lit in that room.

Ginji took a deep breath before he opened the door. This could be a trap. Ban could be in there or not. He could be alone or not. He could attack him or someone else could. Ginji prepared himself and then opened the door.

The door didn't make a sound as it swung open, but Ban, sitting in an armchair much like the one in the cellar, still looked up immediately. There was no surprise in his eyes.

"So you did come," was all he said.

Ginji swept his eyes over the room. Besides Ban, one of the girls Ginji had made unconscious before was in the room. But the girl hadn't regained consciousness and was lying on the bed. Ginji felt a little guilty; the girl was innocent as far as he knew. He shouldn't go strike down people without good reason. He just had been so eager to get to Ban that he for a moment only had seen the girls as Motohashi-witches. Which they probably were, he reminded himself, but they hadn't attacked him and he might have handled it in a better way.

Anyway, there was nothing he could do about that right now. The girl had not been badly hurt, he knew that at least. Ginji turned his attention on Ban who had done nothing since he had entered the room.

"Ban-ch… I mean Midou-san," he began, then silenced. He had no idea of what to say next. As a matter of fact he didn't know what he had expected. No plan at all, only a hope to find Ban-chan… Well, Ginji, here he is. What do you do now?

Ban broke the silence. "Amano Ginji, eh? Still want me to follow you to the forest?"

Ginji licked his mouth, his lips were awfully dry. "Eh… Yeah. I guess."

Ban rose. "Let's go then."

Ginji stared at him, mouth wide open. This he had definitely not expected. Ban was still under the spell, that much he understood. But he hadn't attacked him; instead he suggested they would leave the house. Why? This must be a trap. But if they wanted him, why didn't they catch him in here? He looked suspiciously at Ban.

"Ba… Midou-san. What did Toriyoshi tell… I mean, Toriyoshi-sama tell you about me?" he staggered.

Ban shrugged. "Nothing," he said. "All she did was to make me carry the girl to this room and tell me to ring for her when the girl woke up."

Ginji frowned. This didn't seem quite right. Ban didn't recognize him, so why shouldn't Toriyoshi had said something about a strange guy standing in his room with two unconscious girls on the floor?

"Did you ask her about me?" he asked cautiously.

"No, why should I?" came Ban's calm answer.

Ginji could feel something was wrong here. What should he do? Ban wanted to follow him to the forest? What was the explanation to all this? He wished he at least could find a solution to how he should respond to the situation. Could it be that Ban had been told to follow Ginji to the forest? If that was the case, then what would happen when they came there? Ginji was frustrated, he wasn't used to this much thinking. If the Motohashis wanted Ban and Ginji alone in the forest for some reason, than Ginji had to change some variable in their plan. Maybe if…?

First he must distract Ban. He took a step closer to his partner.

"Who is this girl, Midou-san?" he pointed at the girl on the bed. As expected Ban turned his head to look at the girl and at that moment Ginji struck. Taken by surprise, Ban hit the floor with a thump and lay still.

Ginji stared at him, feeling exhausted even though he hadn't done anything physically exhausting. Then he lifted Ban's body and left the room.

Not a sound was heard in the passageway. That was really creepy. Ginji almost wanted someone to attack him; that would be something familiar that he knew how to respond to. But he wasn't disturbed. Without a single person seeing him, he reached the front door and left the building.

Ban was hanging limp from his shoulder but his weight didn't bother Ginji. What bothered him was how easy this had been. It shouldn't have been. Ginji almost ran over to the edge of the forest where he could at least pretend he had some protection.

He staggered a little as he pushed his way through the woods with his burden. All the time he was expecting an attack, but none came.

After a while he put Ban down under a tree, sat down beside him and waited. Waited for something to happen; an attack, Ban waking up, anything. Ginji sighed very heavily. It seemed to him he had done a lot of sighing lately. Well, he couldn't help it. As long as Ban wasn't really Ban, he didn't feel like much more than sighing.

Ginji put his arms around his knees as he sat by Ban's side. He lifted his head to see if he could see the stars, preferably a shooting star. He knew what he would wish for. Even though he couldn't see any star to wish upon, he still whispered. 'I wish Ban-chan is back to normal again when he wakes up.'

At that moment Ban stirred and opened his eyes.

"Ban-chan?" Ginji asked hopefully. But it was the much angry glare of Midou Ban that met his eyes.

"You hit me, Amano." The way Ban said the words made it sound like a threat, and Ginji shivered. "You're going to pay for that." Yeah. It was a threat alright.

Ban rose to his feet, still a little dizzy, and Ginji slowly followed. Then Ban attacked. Nothing fatal, not even meaning to make Ginji unconscious but fast enough to be impossible for Ginji to block or dodge, and painful enough to make him growl and fall back to the ground.

Ban stood above Ginji. He remembered what Toriyoshi-sama had told him; that's why he had held back his punch. He was not going to kill Amano, not until he knew who had taken the Sacrificer.

"That's enough for now, Amano," he said. "But don't ever do that again, or you'll live long enough to regret it."

Ginji was crumpled on the ground, his hands to his stomach, grasping to find his breath. It took him a couple of minutes before his breathing was fairly back to normal and he could sit up.

In the mean time Ban had put his hands in his pockets and found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Without thinking he took one by reflex, lit it and inhaled its smoke. Strange, he couldn't remember he had smoked before, but it was a very familiar sensation he experienced as he filled his lungs with smoke. It made him relax a little. So the kid had made a huge mistake by hitting him, but Ban could be forgiving. If he wasn't, the kid would probably not tell him anything and that would not please Toriyoshi-sama. Ban gave Ginji a little gentler look.

"Get up," he said without edge in his voice. "You wanted to take me to the forest. We're here. Now what?"

Ginji looked uncertainly at Ban. He wasn't going to hit him again? Ginji blamed himself for not being prepared for an attack from Ban. Even though Ban had already hit him once before this, in the cellar, he had somehow believed that Ban wouldn't do that. He had only been prepared for an attack from someone else. But why lure him to the forest to attack him when they could have taken him much easier in the mansion, if they had cared he was there. Ginji didn't understand anything at all.

"I said, now what?" Ban asked again. "What's your plan?"

Ginji wasn't used to make plans; it had always been Ban who led and Ginji who followed. He had gotten Ban out of the house now. Somehow Ginji had hoped the spell was connected to the building and would be broken as soon as they got out. But obviously that was not the case. Ban's eyes were as cold as they'd been inside. That cold look made Ginji wriggle in discomfort. Was it that look Ban had been showing each and everyone before he met Ginji? In that case it was no wonder other people saw Ban as an unfeeling, insensitive bastard.

What was he supposed to do now? Maybe they should make their way to the Ladybug. Ginji could hardly convince Ban to drive to their client to deliver the Seikon. If Ban was under the impression he was a servant to the Motohashis, he must have been told the Demuras was his enemies. Ginji could never get Ban to make that delivery.

They'd better find the Ladybug anyway. Ginji didn't know what else to do. Perhaps he could get Ban to drive back to Tokyo, and maybe he could find Maria. Yes, that's an idea. Maria would surely know what to do with Ban. Ginji felt a little more hopeful at the thought of the witch.

But were was the Ladybug? He knew it must be somewhere beside the road, but the road ran in a large bend and he and Ban had taken the straighter way through the forest. At least he knew the approximate direction.

"We are going to our car," he explained to Ban and started walking around the mansion to come to the part of the forest they had been walking before. Ban shrugged and walked behind him.

Ginji found a path he thought went in the right direction and followed it. He didn't like the situation at all. What if Ban never snapped out of the spell? What if Ban attacked him again? He didn't know what Ban was thinking, why he was even following him. Walking with a brainwashed Ban under a spell wasn't his idea of a nice walk in the forest. Still, the guy walking behind him was his Ban-chan and Ginji tried to believe that somewhere deep inside him there was something left that Ginji could reach.

Thoughts were rushing through his mind. This Ban scared him. He was more snake-like than Ginji had ever seen him. Cold, arrogant, and not a single glint of the warmth his eyes usually contained at the times he looked at Ginji.

For about half an hour they walked in silence. Then Ban decided it was time to find out if Amano knew anything about the thief.

"That other thief, he who took the Sacrificer, do you know him?" he asked.

Ginji looked at him uncertainly. Why did he want to know that? But all Ginji cared for was to get Ban-chan back and maybe, just maybe, the mentioning of their mutual friend - well, acquaintance - could make Ban get his memory back.

"Shido? Yes, I know him," he said and added, "so do you."

"I do?" This was great, Ban thought. Amano knew the guy and seemed willing to talk about him. This way Ban could get the information he wanted and then he just had to kill the kid, take back the Seikon and head back to Toriyoshi-sama. Ban was most satisfied at the thought of how pleased his mistress would be with him.

"Yeah, don't you remember him? A guy who can talk to the animals? You always call him Monkey Trainer and he calls you Snake Bastard." Ginji was eager to tell Ban anything that could help his friend to regain his memory.

Ban frowned. He had no idea what the kid talked about. Monkey Trainer? Snake Bastard? The only explanation Ban could think about was that Amano mistook him for someone else. But if he played along he would probably get all the information he needed.

"I think I recognize that," he lied. "Tell me more."

And Ginji very happy started a long monologue about how Ban had met Shido the first time, where Shido lived, missions they had been on together and so on.

"Do you remember, Ban-chan?" Ginji asked anxiously. Had all this talk helped Ban remember something?

This time Ban held back his anger as Ginji called him Ban-chan. He didn't want to spoil this source of information until it was empty. "It seems familiar." Once again he lied. Of course he couldn't remember something that had never happened. "Is there anything more you can tell me?"

Ginji shook his head. "No, nothing I can think of right now anyway." He looked at Ban. His partner didn't look like he remembered anything. He still had that cold look in his eyes, and as Ginji gave the answer, he caught a dangerous glint in them too, which made Ginji feel very uneasy. Had he said too much?

So this was it, Ban thought. The information source had gone dry, but he had got all he needed. Time to end this charade.

TBC